Characterization of blueberry exosome-like nanoparticles and miRNAs with potential cross-kingdom human gene targets

Edible plant derived exosome-like nanoparticles(ELNs)have been shown to have multiple nutraceutical functions.However,the diversity of plant materials makes the plant derived ELN study challenging.More efforts are still needed to explore the feasible isolation methods of edible plant derived ELNs and the possible roles of food-derived ELNs in improving human health.In this study,a size exclusion chromatography based method was compared with the traditional ultracentrifugation method to isolate blueberry derived ELNs(B-ELNs),and the miRNA profile of B-ELNs was analyzed by high-throughput sequencing.A total of 36 miRNAs were found to be enriched in B-ELNs compared with berry tissue,and their potential cross-kingdom human gene targets were further predicted.Results showed that size exclusion chromatography was effective for B-ELN isolation.The most abundant miRNAs in B-ELNs mainly belonged to the miR166 family and miR396 family.Target gene prediction indicated that B-ELNs could potentially regulate pathways related to the human digestive system,immune system and infectious diseases.

Identification of microRNA-21 as a valuable diagnostic marker of oral squamous cell carcinoma and potential target

Objective The aim of the study was to summarize the diagnostic value of miR-21 as a biomarker in oral squamous cell carcinoma(OSCC)using a review of the literature and data from the cancer genome atlas(TCGA)database.Methods Data from TCGA database was sorted and analyzed by bioinformatics to determine the expression level of miR-21 in OSCC.Further,we searched for relevant articles in Embase,PubMed/Medline,Scopus,and Web of Science published before March 2021,extracted the data,and conducted quality assessment.The bivariate meta-analysis model with Stata 16.0 was used to analyze the diagnostic value of miR-21 for OSCC.Results A total of 304 related articles were identified,and seven were selected for meta-analysis.The diagnostic results after analysis were as follows:sensitivity 0.76[95%confidence interval(CI),0.57-0.88];specificity 0.77(95%CI,0.58-0.89);positive likelihood ratio 3.34(95%CI,1.58-7.08);negative likelihood ratio 0.31(95%CI,0.15-0.63);diagnostic odds ratio 10.75(95%CI,2.85-40.51);and area under the curve 0.83(95%CI,0.80-0.86).The Deeks’funnel chart showed that there was no potential bias(P=0.54).Prediction analysis of the potential target genes of miR-21 was performed via the biological website,and DAVID was used to cross target genes for gene ontology(GO)annotation function analysis.Conclusion The results showed that miR-21-3p and miR-21-5p were significantly more highly expressed in OSCC tissues than in normal tissues(P<0.05),and the results of the meta-analysis indicated that they could be used as potential biomarkers in the diagnosis of OSCC.In addition,58 potential target genes of miR-21 were significantly enriched in 28 GO annotation functional pathways,which provided a biological basis for further clinical diagnostic value research.

MicroRNAs in tomato plants

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a specialized class of small silencing RNAs that regulate gene expression in eukaryotes.In plants,miRNAs negatively regulate target mRNAs containing a highly complementary sequence by either mRNA cleavage or translational repression.As a model plant to study fleshy fruit ripening,miRNA studies in tomato have made great progress recently.MiRNAs were predicted to be involved in nearly all biological processes in tomato,particularly development,differentiation,and biotic and abiotic stress responses.Surprisingly,several miRNAs were verified to be involved in tomato fruit ripening and senescence.Recent studies suggest that miRNAs are related to host-virus interactions,which raises the possibility that miRNAs can be used as diagnostic markers for response to virus infection in tomato plants.In this review,we summarize our current knowledge systematically and advance future directions for miRNA research in tomato.